The proposed Magino Gold Mine is facing a major new obstacle.
A news release issued Tuesday says Garden River First Nation "objects to and will if necessary, challenge Prodigy's attempts to construct and operate a gold mine" in what Garden River describes as its traditional territory, near Dubreuilville, adding studies by the First Nation "reveal that this is an area of high value to [Garden River] for exercise of treaty and indigenous inherent rights, for culture, ceremony, and the overall responsibility of protectors of the land and water".
While Garden River notes Prodigy is working on Impact Benefit Agreements with other local Indigenous communities, it claims Prodigy has refused to accommodate Garden River through such an agreement "anywhere close to industry standard today, or what [Garden River knows to be adequate", with Chief Andy Rickard claiming the company "never really negotiated" and simply "waited until the end to tell us there was almost nothing left...for compensatory measures", such as "real revenue sharing".
Prodigy was bought by - and folded into - Toronto-based Argonaut Gold in late 2012 - it is proposing an open pit gold mine with onsite metal mill, a project that cleared its federal environmental assessment nearly a year ago, though it still requires other federal and provincial approvals.